Railroad-rail wearing-plate and connection



.E. G. WALLINDER; RA |LROAD RAIL WEARING PLATE AND CONNECTION.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I7, 1921.

Patented May 3, 1921.

2 SHETSSHEET 1 61mm; I

E. G. WALLINDER. RAILROAD RAIL WEARING PLATE AND CONNECTION.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17. 1-921. 1,376,488. Patented May 3,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAILROAD-RAIL WEARING-PLATE AND CONNECTION.

Application filed January 17, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERICK Gr. VALLINDER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad RailWearing-Plates and Connections, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.I

This invention relates to a rail or beam joint and wearing platetherefor. Vhile the device has special reference to and the embodimentherewith illustrates the invention as associated with a railroad rail,it is to be understood that the same may be found of advantage inconnection with other structural steel combinations.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a more substantialand efficient rail or beam connection than heretofore employed and onethat is easy of application and comparatively cheap. Other objects andadvantages will appear in the further description of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this application and inwhich like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved wearing plate which is usedtransverse the rail or beam and upon which the latter rests; and showinga tieing plate attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1 showing the wearing plates relativeposition in connection with a rail and angle brace.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of a railroad rail adj acentone of theimproved connections as applied to a joint in the rail.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the rail joint as it appears from the insideof the track; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the opposite side of the rail.

1 represents the wearing or base plate upon which the rail rests, thesame being placed intermediate of the rail 2 and the tie 3; it being thecustom as already practised of placing pieces of metal between the tieand rail, and such practice is more or less exercised depending uponindividual circumstances, as it is known that in some localities longstretches of railroad track are provided with such wearing plates, whilein some instances Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Serial No. 437,779. I

the same are only employed in and about railroad yards or switches.

The preferred form of plate 1 is rectangular and has formed upon one endthereof an upwardly extending rib or end wall 4 which extends the fullwidth of the plate, and, adacent th1s rib, upon the inner side thereof,are formed one or more rectangular openlngs 5 through the plate for thereception of the railroad spikes employed in holding the plate inposition under the rail. The opposite end of the plate is flush, havingno rib whatever thereupon, but is provided with a like number of spacedspike holes 5 to those upon the opposite end.

Spaced diagonally across the upper face of the plate are two inwardlyprojecting lugs or clips 6 formed by punching the same upwardly out ofthe plate. These lugs are spaced longitudinally the plate the properdistance so that the edges of the base of the rail snugly fit in underthe inwardly projecting ends of the lugs when the plate is in itsultimate position under the rail, and they are also spaced the properdistance transverse the plate to permit of the latter being placedupwardly diagonally against the base of the rail and subsequently turnedinto position with the lugs engaging the base of the rail. Thisconstruction will permit of the plate being raised up into positionunder the rail intermediate of the ties and then slid longitudinally ofthe rail over the tie so that they may be readily applied or removed atany place desired in the track.

There is also shown spaced diagonally of the plate in opposite relationin respect to the lugs, two holes 7 which are similar to the holes 5 andare positioned so as to occur adjacent the edge of the base of the railwhen the latter is in place on the plate so that if desired the ordinaryrailroad spikes may be employed in holding the rail and plate inposition on the ties. considered the preferred spiking arrangement ofthe plate as it has been thoroughly demonstrated that if the spikes areplaced in the outermost rows of holes in the plate and away from therail, they will permit of the natural vibration of the latter withoutdirectly affecting the spikes and thus reduce the holding efficiencythereof.

It is quite obvious that i the rail i al- However, this is not provideda novel form of wearing plate site the abutting ends of the rails.

lowed to thus slightly vibrate without affecting the spikes theirholding efficiency is materially increased and that as a comparisonprobably two half inch spikes placed in the outermost corners of theplate would prove just as effective as two very much larger spikesplaced in direct contact with the base of the rail and that where itbecomes practical to employ smaller spikes the life of the tie is justthat much more prolonged.

From the above it is apparent that 1 have irrespective of other elementsof the invention which I will subsequently proceed to describe and thesame may be used in any place desired as a simple wearing plate betweenthe ties and rail.

At 8 is illustrated an angularly shaped bracing plate which is designedto be slid into position upon the outer side longitudinally the rail andtransverse the plate with the lower bent edge of the angle abuttingvided with one or more suitable holes 11 which register with the holes 5when the plate is in position. These angle plates or braces 8 may beused in combination with the novel form of wearing plate previouslydescribed at any place, desired longitudinal the rail for instance uponthe outside thereof about a curve in. the track to prevent spreading ofthe rails, such practice of bracing a rail about a curve being wellknown in the art of railroading.

Where a joint in the rail occurs, I propose to use a reinforced fishplate 12 upon the outside only of the rail, while upon the inside isemployed the common fish plate 13, i said plates and rails beingsecurely held together by the usual through bolts 14.

However the holes '15 in the novel form of fish plate 12 are made oblonglongitudinal the plate topermit of adjustment of the latter when, forexample, from continued wear, the upper face of the bulb 16 of the fishplate 12 becomes worn directly oppo- It will be possible to slacken offthe through bolts 14 and adjust the fish plate 12 longitudinallypresenting a of the bulb 1'6 opposite the joint in the rail, which, itis obvious, increases the usefulness of the auxiliary wearing surfacepresented higher less worn portion by the bulb in the plate. In order touse a standard rail bolt, suchas shown at 14, I have recessed the outerface of the web of the fish plate 12 so that it becomes substantiallythe same thickness as the ordinary fishplate where the bolt passestherethrough and which construction provides suitable verticallydisposed webs 17 for substantially reinforcing the fish plate.Longitudinal the lower outer corner of the bulb 16 of the fish plate 12is formed a groove indicated at 18 into which the upper end of thebraces 8 may be slid in the same manner as the braces are placed againstthe rail proper as heretofore described and shown in Fig. 2; theoppositeend of the brace 8 abutting the rib 19 on theplate. 20'and whichlatter is of similar construction to the plate 1 except that it isgreater in length and the lugs 21 thereof are spaced sufiiciently farapart to engage the lower edges of the fishplates 12 and 13 whenattached to the rail instead of engaging the base of the rail proper. Itwill be noted however that in'tliis construction the distance from thecenter of the rail to the innermost flush end of the plate 20 is thesame as that of the plate 1 so that when it is desired to employ a tierod or plate such as illustrated at 22 the same may be securely spikedupon the flush end of the plates transverse the track and this tie platemay be made the full widtlh of the wearing plates or not as desirec.

In the forming of the reinforcing fishplate I prefer to slightly reducethe height of the bulb 13 thereof toward the ends to prevent the wheelpassing over the joint first striking one end of the fishplate and fromthe fact that this plate may be adjusted longitudinally of the rail itis evident that its use as a reinforcement and auxiliary tread forwheels passing thereover is materially increased.

. From the foregoing it is evident that I have produced a novel form ofwearing plate for rails as well as a novel form of reinforcingfishplate, and the fact that the wearing plates for the jointconnections are made longer than the similarly shaped plates forinstallation under a rail where there are no joints will permit of acommon use of the angle braces throughout the having a bulb thereuponextending upwardly approximately level with the top of the rail, agroove in the lower outer corner of the bulb, a brace plate slidablyengageable intermediate of said groove and the rib on the base plate,means for holding the latter and the brace cooperatively united, and acommon fish plate on the opposite side of the rail joint united with theother fish plate by common through bolts. 10

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ERICK G. WALLINDER. Witnesses:

S. C. BRoNsoN, S. G110. STEVENS.

